Episode 23 – Co-creating the city you want to live in, with Ben Orcutt
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If you’ve followed this podcast for a while, you may have heard us talk about five key groups of community leaders, and the ways their roles differ and interact. We’ve had discussions with city administrators, elected officials, economic development leaders, city staff, and that particularly diverse group of folks we call the implementers. (If you’re a follower of the Strong Towns movement, you have heard these folks referred to as “strong citizens,” people who care.) These are the people taking a leadership role in their community in a way that is outside of city government. They are the glue that holds the community together, and an immensely valuable resource for city leaders to tap into.
Our guest in this episode is someone who is starting to straddle these lines a bit—but he’s an implementer, a "strong citizen," first and foremost.
Ben Orcutt is a bike-advocate-turned small business owner and candidate for city council of Anderson, Indiana. He joins (one-time Anderson resident) Jordan Clark on this podcast to discuss the importance of believing in your neighborhood, how cities could help clear hurdles for citizens who want to contribute, and what we stand to gain by focusing on authenticity and transparency in local government.
Ben has spent years demonstrating—through his neighborhood businesses as well as his advocacy and volunteer work—what is possible when you invest your time making repeated small bets on your community. After being approached by many of his neighbors and peers to take that approach to city government, Ben is now running for a seat on Anderson’s City Council. Ben is the first to tell you he’s still learning, that he doesn’t possess all the answers. But he is serious about asking questions, about observing local needs, and about trying new things out incrementally to see if they make a difference. And if you ask us, that’s exactly the kind of person we need in positions of city leadership.
Check out Ben's campaign page here.
Near Anderson? Visit Buckskin Bikes for all your bike needs, and then hop over to Jackrabbit Coffee for your caffeine fix.
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(Music in this episode is from Custodian of Records and Tours.)
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